Call Me Merlin

Apparently, we start immediately. Gary gave him only a day to sort everything out, which meant finding a suitable explanation for why he'd be gone for the next couple of months.

Harry gave some bullshit excuse that he's going back to visit his old school in Scotland and maybe spend some time with his old friends up in the country. He didn't pack anything as Gary said everything he needed will be provided for by Kingsman.

After some thinking Harry decided to leave some money for Jason, to pay for his part of the rent for the next few months. Jason had rejected it at first but Harry wasn't having any of it and they both argued for a while before Jason finally relented and accepted the money.

Harry then informed his other friends and employer about his abrupt vacation before turning in for the night. He couldn't quite sleep well and spent the time tossing and turning in bed as his thoughts were keeping him awake.

The 'what if this turns out to be a scam' scenario kept popping up in his mind, but then he took comfort in knowing that he could always apparate away if anything nefarious were to happen.

But if it was not a scam, then... this would be the excitement he's been craving for since leaving the Wizarding World behind. With thoughts still racing he went into a fitful sleep.

On the next day, in the afternoon he went to Saville Row.

He stood quietly outside the storefront, staring blankly at the rows of mannequins. Harry knew this was his last chance to back out. But why should he? So he gathered his courage and stepped inside the shop.

He immediately saw Gary sitting on a posh couch, waiting for him while holding a glass of something alcoholic in his hand. Harry realized that Gary must've seen him standing outside and having second thoughts.

Gary gave him a smirk and rose swiftly from the seat. "Follow me." He said and left the unfinished drink on a side table.

Harry followed him at a sedate pace while looking around the shop. Any one of these suits cost more than the rent he pays for each month. Sneaking a peek at Gary, Harry knows whatever he's wearing probably costs more than the all of the suits in the shop combined.

Gary gave the man standing behind the counter a small nod and ushered Harry into a fitting room. Inside Harry thinks it is a rather comfortable room for a fitting, but he's confused as to why Gary would take him there. Was he going to measure him for a suit?

His eyes followed Gary's form as he stood in front of the full-length mirror and Harry stepped up behind him. Gary met his gaze from the mirror and asked. "What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

"A confused bloke?"

"I see a young man with potential. Someone smart and loyal. Someone with skills and talents that he's just itching to put to good use."

Harry just continued to look at him through the mirror. Gary sure knows how to make someone feel special.

"I see a warrior in your eyes. The life you have now would have bored you endlessly." Gary broke eye contact and lifted his hand. Placing it on the mirror Harry saw a red light scanning it, biometric security? Will it open up to a tunnel or something? Harry looked around for any opening when the floor suddenly started moving down. Harry took a wobbly step back in alarm before he once again composed himself.

"Let me tell you a little bit of our history. Since 1849 Kingsman tailors have clothed the world's most powerful individuals. By 1919, a great number of them had lost their heirs to World War One. That meant a lot of money going uninherited and a lot of powerful men with a desire to preserve peace and protect life."

"The founders realized that they could channel that wealth and influence... for the greater good." Harry visibly twitched at the last part, reminding him of Dumbledore.

"And that is how it began. We are above the politics and bureaucracy that undermine the integrity of government-run spy organizations. The suit is a modern gentleman's armor and the Kingsman agents are the new knights."

Harry could tell Gary was having fun saying that small speech, his expressive eyes gave him away. "Impressive speech." He said as the floor was still going down.

"I cheated a little bit." Gary gave a grin for the first time since Harry met him. "That was what my mentor told me." Harry could hear Gary's accent slipping into a more local street accent, he can't quite place the location just yet.

The floor finally stopped and they entered into a small tunnel right into what looked like a circular train. Is that a maglev? Harry wondered as the door slid open and he could see the luxurious interiors.

"This is wicked." Harry said as he sat down in the comfy seat. There were bottles of expensive liquor lining one wall, and as the door closed the train sprang to life. It moved like a dream, and he could barely feel anything.

"We're now en route to headquarters. It will take a couple of minutes so while we're here let me fill you in on what you'll be expecting..."

Gary talked about the different tests he will have to go through. The training and skills he will need to learn to be considered a Kingsman agent.

Harry listened intently, filing these small tidbits of information in his head. His inner mindscape was simple, how he managed to create something after the mind-rape he went through with Snape's occlumency training was a miracle in and of itself.

It took him the better part of a year to fix it and another to make suitable defences. He made it to look like his apartment with Jason, but that was just a ruse. The real mindscape that held his memories was his laptop, located in his room on top of a desk. It looked innocuous, any wizard looking for his memories would ignore it. After all, a laptop doesn't exist in the wizarding world and even if they do find out about it, they would have a hard time navigating through the desktop.

He has important things filed and labelled, not in an obvious way of course, but using a code only he understands. Everything is organized and in folders, and it was of great help to him while he was catching up on muggle education.

The train finally stopped and they both stepped out. Gary first led him to a large window that he presented with a flourish of his hand. "The incident I mentioned before, the one involving the loss of some Kingsman agents has also managed to destroy almost all of our previous planes, transport and artillery."

What.

"Not to mention the mansion." Gary muttered under his breath but Harry managed to catch it.

A bomb or missile most likely, if Harry could hazard a guess. He doesn't mention his deduction to Gary and instead stepped towards the large glass.

"We managed to rebuild and collect about half of what we lost but it's still a long way to go before it is back to it's former glory."

The hanger is filled with different planes, cars and... is that a cab? Harry could see the reason for it, the best way to go about unnoticed in London would be a cab for sure.

Gary checked his watch. "Shit, we're late. Let's move on, Merlin might not be too miffed about us being late." It seems that, o1ther than his initial judgments, Gary seems to be a pretty chill guy.

Gary led him through a series of corridors until he finally turned a corner to see a man waiting with a clipboard in hand.

He's tall, and bald. Those were the first things Harry noticed. The man is wearing a sweater over his tie and has the same glasses as Gary. He doesn't seem like an agent, and he seems to have a different position.

The man turns to look at them and Harry is hit full frontal with the man's piercing gaze. The man has strong features, but what Harry notices the most is his impressive presence. Like a heavy aura that surrounds him, it feels dark and dangerous.

Harry is instantly weary and tenses up behind Gary. His guards are up and he is ready to attack at a moments notice. The man must have noticed because there was a sudden glint in his eyes, the man gave him a small nod, as if he approved. They broke eye contact as the man turned to Gary.

"Galahad." He greeted.

"My codename." Gary explained as the stranger turned to look at his watch.

"You're late, let us hope it was not on purpose." Harry could detect the scottish burr in his accent.

"Good luck." Gary said with a grin.

The man turned to look at him, "In ya go." He indicated towards a heavy metal door.

Harry gave the man one last look before moving forward and pushing the door open. The first glimpse of the room he can see were multiple beds lining the wall. Then, the next thing he saw was a small cluster of people at the center of the room. He could take a guess and say that he is the last candidate to arrive.

They all turned in unison when they heard the door open. Harry instantly felt the difference between social classes just from the clothes some of the people wore. He could probably name all the expensive brands they use, half of them would definitely be his target if he ever saw them on the streets. Another half of them wore sensible and comfortable but also equally expensive clothing.

Some of the men were older and looked hardened, probably military, and the others looked like they had some form of formal training or another.

Harry's face was impassive as he saw a few of them giving him a mocking smirk as they looked him up and down. While other's looked like they couldn't care less about him and turned back to their conversation. Harry takes notice of the chance that he is probably the youngest candidate in the room.

He heard the door open behind him and a man said, "Fall in."

The group straightened up and stood at attention with their hands behind their backs. Harry stood at the side and followed their position. He could feel his magic slowly branch off like tendrils, searching and weaving through the whole room. He controls it easily enough not to damage any surrounding electronics. He's had enough practice with his laptop to make sure his magic doesn't fry anything.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Merlin. You are about to embark on what is probably the most dangerous job interview in the world. One of you, and only one of you, will become the next Bors."

Merlin moves closer to one of the beds and picks up a green folded cloth "Can anybody tell me, what this is?"

Harry observes the one on the bed next to him, noticing the blank spaces with name, blood type and next of kin written next to it. A body bag, Harry surmised.

"Yes, you?" He heard Merlin say and someone answered.

"A body bag, sir."

"Correct."

"Stourton, isn't it?"

"Yes sir."

Harry turned just in time to see Stourton giving him a smug look. Harry just looked unimpressed.

"In a moment, you will each collect a bodybag. You will write your name on that bag, you will write the details of your next of kin on that bag. This represents your acknowledgement of the risks you're about to face as well as your agreement to strict confidentiality. Which incidentally if you'd break, will result in you and your next of kin, being in that bag." Harry's eyes narrowed at the subtle threat, his magic inching closer to the man until it was almost wrapping around him.

It was then that Harry noticed something odd about Merlin, there was something different about his legs, his magic could feel it. Almost... Harry's eyes widened when he realized what he was sensing.

"Is that understood?" Merlin's gaze shifts to him and he could feel a sort of underlying spark of magic connecting them together. He frowns as the connection grows stronger and gathers his magic back within him.

The connection broke and Merlin turns back to the group.

"Excellent, fall out." He gave a stiff nod and leaves the room. Harry's eyes follow his form, his walk was normal and smooth, if his magic hadn't told him Merlin was wearing prosthetics he couldn't have guessed on his own.

Harry turns to the bed next to him, picking up the body bag's identification card. He doesn't know who to send his body to, and after a few seconds of pondering, why not send it to Dudley? It would surely freak him out, why not? With a smirk he decided if anything were to happen to him, he'd give the world his one last hurrah, his one last prank.

Looking up he saw the guy on the bed beside him was approaching.

"David." He says while holding out his hand.

"Harry." He shakes the hand and introduces himself.

"And who decided to propose a child?" He heard a gruff voice ask behind him. "You shouldn't be here." A mocking voice joined in. He turned and looked, the first one who spoke seemed to be one of the older candidates, while the second one was an easy guess with his smug face and expensive clothing, the rich tosser.

"It's dangerous." The first one said from beside his bed.

"Don't mind them, I'm sure you were chosen for a reason just like the rest of us." David chimed.

"To be filler." Another annoying rich tosser joined in, Stourton.

The two tossers approached him, one of them held out a hand. "Name's Albert, and this is Stourton."

Harry just gave the hand a glance and ignored it. Albert just let it fall back down while saying, "Teenagers these days."

"So which High School do you go to?" Stourton asked, a sneer in his voice.

Harry gave him an unimpressed look and turned back to his bed. "Just ignore them." David said while busy slipping his identification card inside the waterproof holder on the bodybag.

"You'll need a pen." Someone said beside him and he turned to look at the outstretched hand.

"Thanks." He smiled at the woman and took the pen.

"Amelia." She held out her hand and he shook it.

"Don't take any notice of those guys." She gave the rich tossers a look.

"Like I said." David added and Harry gave him a small smile. He turned and wrote down Dudley Dursley as next of kin.

"I'm sure they're just trying to scare us, no one's gonna die." David gave a shrug.

"I wouldn't bet on that." Another of one of the older candidates said and Harry just gave him a glance.

They've all retired to their beds for a good night's rest. They don't know what to expect for tomorrow but they wanted to be ready and well-rested for whatever test comes.

Harry doesn't know what time it was when he felt his bed suddenly becoming damp and wet. He abruptly woke up and felt the water rise.

Harry immediately sat up and turned his light on. Alarmed, he started to see that the water was everywhere and it was steadily rising. He stood on his bed and looked around as the others quickly got up as well.

"Loo snorkel!" He heard Titus shout.

"Shower heads!" David shouted while grasping his shoulder. "Hurry!" David said to him as he swam past.

"Go! Go! Go!" One of the older candidates shouted and they started moving to the shower area.

Harry glanced around and the water was easily above head height, he took one last big gulp of air before the water finally reached the ceiling.

He looked at the only exit but immediately dismissed the idea. The door opened inwards and the water pressure inside would ensure that the door would be sealed tight.

Harry suddenly noticed the flailing figure of Amelia, her bed was right next to the door and he easily spotted her.

Feeling his people-saving thing turn on he immediately swam towards her. He's not panicking just yet, a simple bubblehead charm would suffice but he's not about to do it in a room full of people.

Just as he grabbed her hand she went limp and he immediately swam towards the others with her in tow. As he approached he could now understood what they meant about the loo snorkel.

David saw him approaching and quickly offered his oxygen source. Harry grabbed it and took a few quick breaths, Amelia is unconscious and he doesn't know how to help her other than getting her out of here immediately.

He glances at the mirror, it's the only breakable barrier in this room. If his guess is correct, there is a large probability that it could be a two-way mirror, if not he will just have to find another way out.

Barely a couple seconds passed before he left Amelia in the care of David, maybe he'll know how to help her. He quickly swam to the mirror, and grabbed hold of the faucet. His feet planted on the sink and he gave the mirror a punch. Harry cursed in his mind, he's not strong enough.

The older candidates noticed his intentions and left their loo snorkel to join him with the mirror.

Titus and the other candidate both punched the mirrors but it wasn't working. Feeling frustrated Harry did a low powered bombarda just as his fist connected to the glass. It broke under his spell and Harry felt the water rushing through the opening and dragging him with it.

As he hits the ground hard he is instantly conscious of the large pieces of glass falling around him. He did a short magical scan of his body and found a couple of small nicks on his person but overall, he sustained no major damage. After the deluge washed away Harry immediately turned for Amelia and found that she was lying next to David.

"Hurry!" He shouted and David helped him lay her out on the floor. He looked on helplessly as David quickly performed CPR. After a few tense seconds Harry was starting to think of willing his magic to get the water out of her lungs.

Then, just as he was about to push David aside and take over, Amelia started coughing up the water and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Congratulations on completing your first task."

They all immediately turned to the voice and saw Merlin in the corner holding his clipboard.

"Titus, David, well done. To those of you still confused, you get a breathing tube around the U-bend of a toilet, you have an unlimited air supply. Simple physics, worth remembering."

Then his eyes turned to Harry. "Harry, well done spotting that was a two-way mirror."

He pointed his pen at David and Amelia. "David, good work in aiding your team."

Then he turned to address all of them. "Due to the use of teamwork, knowledge and skill, we did not lose a candidate this time. You all passed."